The LORD's Day July 22, 2007

Brokenhearted Over Sinfulness

Psalm 119.129-136

Hearts break over many things- a lost love, the death of a loved one, the loss of a friend.

Heartbreak in the Bible Jacob, Esau, Rachel, Joseph, David, Rachel ‘s children, Paul’s tears and of course, Jesus our LORD.

The Psalmist was heartbroken over the fact that the Word of God was not being obeyed. The actual word is Torah. The people of God were ignoring the Word of God. The people of God were treating the history of Genesis like it had no meaning, the Exodus became something they forgot almost altogether, along with the Ten Commandments. The fact that God had brought them into the land was no longer a part of their thinking. They lost touch with their past. The beginning of the earth and the beginning of this nation was recorded in God’s Word and they ignored what He said. The travels to the Promised Land and the people God used were cast aside. God’s wonderful dealing with the nation, His Hand upon as it was just being born and taking root, His guidance and provision all showed that He loved His people. Now they are rejecting Him. This is a spiritual tragedy.

It is heartbreaking when we see people forsake their spiritual heritage. When we see people who once had spiritual fervor become too busy to serve the LORD, it hurts. When an adult forgets the teaching he received as a child and goes down the wrong path, it is a tragedy. When people depart from the faith as the Bible said they would in the Last Days we experience a pain that sometimes we cannot put into words.

The Psalmist was watching the beginnings of the nation going down the tubes. He was watching the nation forget the LORD. He was watching the law of the LORD being broken. This broke his heart. He knew what Israel could be if they only obeyed, but he is observing the opposite. They were on a crash course of disobedience ending in severe punishment.

People who knew better were sinking morally. People who had been entrusted with the very words of God were behaving like the other people around them who did not have the Word of God. When this happens those who walk with the LORD suffer inward hurt. That hurt eventually comes out on the countenance in one way or the other. What we see on a face is a reflection of a heart.

1. It was in his heart.

The Psalmist is speaking.

He had hidden God’s Word in his heart. (v.11) and he didn’t have to look it up to see if it was being violated. He knew it in his heart because that is where God’s Word was in his life

We shared in the Bible Studies how this is a double edged sword. We hide the Word of God in our hearts and there is great blessing but there is also the pain that comes to our hearts when it is disobeyed. We recognize sin more sharply when the Sword of the Spirit is within us.

When God’s Word is hidden in a heart that person knows how things ought to be. The Divine Ought becomes very apparent. When we see it broken, we know this grieves the Spirit. We also know from God’s Word that the wages of sin are death.

The brokenheartedness he was feeling was within. God reveals things to our hearts much more from His Word there than He does visions and dreams. I have had Him speak that way but much more often it is within, in that still small voice, bringing His Word to me.

A broken heart over sinfulness is a result of God speaking through His Word . His Word within us pointing out waywardness.

God’s Word was a lamp for his path and light for his path (v.105) When God’s Word is cherished likethis then those who do not walk with him are seen for what they really are.

His heart was breaking so...

2. Tears flowed down his cheeks.
We have all witnessed crocodile tears. It is disgusting. Some people could win an academy award for their ability to do that. Those kind of tears are not from a broken heart but a warped mind.

This was not just the eyes welling up. This was tears flowing. He is describing a continual weeping because of the spiritual condition of those around him.

It may border on a type of depression but its basis is more from God’s love being turned down and people destroying their lives.

It is heartbreaking to see people destroy themselves. Habbakuk the prophet was upset with the LORD for making him look at things in his day. We would rather not see it. We would rather avoid it. But God uses broken hearts in His people to draw them into an intercessory relationship with Him.

Tears from a broken heart are close to God’s heart. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and He saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34.18)

In the prophet Hosea, the LORD has Hosea go through some horrible experiences so that he can convey God’s love for unfaithful Israel to them. Hosea had his heart broken over his wife Gomer. It was a gut wrenching experience for him. Heartbreak resulting in tears is deep pain. Some of that pain is nearly indescribable.

Tears come when words can’t. God’s heart broke over Israel and Jesus spoke to the churches in Revelation about things they needed to turn from.

As we look as things going on here around us tears flow at times because people are breaking God’s law and in so doing destroying themselves. Quietly we weep over family members who do not Christ. We pray regularly for those whose lives are on the broad way that leads to destruction.

But for a number of reasons, in our culture, we do not want to see people cry. We tell children, “Don’t cry.” I have seen adults tell other adults not to cry. I even remember an over ambitious couple with their first child, who did not want the baby to ever shed tears. When the child would fall, instead of allowing the little guy to express pain, the family would cheer and laugh and make him smile. He is now in his 30's and I wonder how many psychologists he has been to.

Sometimes we need a good cry Sometimes, like with this Psalmist, tears flow like a river He was not just an emotional person he was one who found it horrible that God’s Word was not being obeyed. He continually wept. He was like Jeremiah who said his head had become a fountain of tears.

3. There are promises for the brokenhearted, even a blessing pronounced.

Blessed are those who mourn... for they will be comforted. If you look closely at that section of the Sermon on the Mount that we call the Beatitudes, you will find a progression there of Christian living. One of the first steps in coming to God and it is the one of the first steps in becoming Christlike, a Man of Sorrows and familiar with suffering, is this beatitude Grieving over our own personal sin and after we have come to Christ grieving over others lost in sin.

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy (Psalm 126.5) (Continually weeping as we sow).

Joy will come for those who work the harvest fields. Seeing tomatoes turn red and then eating this delectable fruit is wonderful. Joy comes to those whom work in the Harvest of souls for the kingdom of God. To work in that field means tears. We mentioned the Apostle Paul’s tears- Acts 20.19,31:I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. So be on your guard Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Philippians 3.18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

But there is joy too!

What joy when we see a soul respond to Jesus Christ. We join in with the joy of the angels in heaven. We see the joy of lives headed in the wrong direction turned around. Apart from our own salvation is there anything more thrilling on earth than that?

So we shed tears. They seem to be in part the water the seeds need.
Let us not become weary in doing good for we will reap a harvest in due season if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

My granddaughter, Emma, was over on a Saturday afternoon in the spring. We had decided in advance to plant some seeds together. We put the soil in the planters and the seeds in the soil; and then we watered them. Five minutes later she tracked me down to announce, “They aren't up yet, Poppa I explained it takes time for seeds to grow. She waited about half an hour and gave me the same announcement. Finally I explained, It will be a very long time until we see the plants pop up, but they will come.

Waiting for answers to prayer is not easy. Looking for results from our labor can take time. Planting seeds, watering them, and then waiting for them to grow—this is our job. It is God who gives them life and causes them to grow. His ways are not our ways and His timing is not ours. He makes all things beautiful in His time—not ours. There are lessons that take a lifetime to fully learn. Like the person who prayed, LORD, I want patience, and I want it now we are like my sweet granddaughter Emma. We expect things to happen quickly, and then we are disappointed when they don’t.

I have to confess that when it comes to answers to prayer, I am more like Emma than I care to admit. I look for the seed to pop up when I should rest and leave it in the Lord’s hands. As the words of the familiar song read, “O what needless pain we bear ”

Emma and I will are now rejoicing over the new plants that in the backyard now.

You will reap what you sow. If you sow to the Spirit, if you sow in tears, if do not become weary in doing good, you will reap love, you will have joy, the joy of seeing God answer prayer for lost souls, if you do not give up.

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The LORD’s Day
July 22, 2007
We Worship In Singing
We Worship In Prayer
We Worship In Hearing the Word of God
Brokenhearted Over Sinfulness Psalm 119.136

*Tithes and Offerings can be placed in the box at the rear of the sanctuary*
Please join us for coffee and bagels downstairs if you are visiting today.

V
This Week
Bible Reading Psalm 120-124 (The Psalms of Ascents)
Monday Men’s Prayer Meeting 6:30am in the church basement
Wednesday Bible Study -7:30pm at the parsonage
Thursday Bible Study 10:30am in the church basement
Next Lord’s Day
Morning Prayer- 10am in the church basement
Morning Worship- 10:30am(Sunday School for Children)
Spanish Service- 4pm
Prayer in the Parsonage Backyard- 6pm

In Your Prayers For All of God’s People
Remember the men serving in the armed forces: Bradley, Julia Bujold’s grandson with Special Forces in Afghanistan, home on leave right now, Ken Brown, Pastor’s friend’s son on his third tour of Iraq- He will be there until October. Please pray for the whole family. Billy Knapp, Jr. in Iraq with the Marines (neighbor of the church and Pastor- Billy’s sister graduated from Good Shepherd). Matthew Klaus, brother of Good Shepherd parent in Iraq as a firefighter for Haliburton. Pastor’s nephew’s and niece’s cousin in Iraq. Pray for them and the others away from their families. Praise God for keeping David Louis, Jake Morgan and Tom Hindelang safe during their times in Iraq. Christine Frankland, Katharina’s daughter diagnosed with leukemia. Kathy, Ziggy and Margot’s daughter-in-law, under the doctor’s care for fibromyalgia. Pray for Eloise Brooks in Sunrise Manor undergoing rehab. She is in need of healing in her leg. She is in room 214. Remember Jean Louis as both he and Eloise are on dialysis. Pastor’s neighbor, John Mehler, beginning dialysis as well. Grace Martin, Edie Raevis’ daughter, seeing a surgeon. Edie’s daughter’s mother-in-law, Millie Espisito undergoing chemotherapy. Reginald Mooney, friend of Terri and John Garry, with a tumor in his kidney. Please remember Pastor’s friend Kim Richardson’s (who is recovering from a heart attack) daughter, Kelly, undergoing chemotherapy. Please remember this whole family in prayer. She is going to need an additional surgery for the chemo port next month. Iola is waiting for results of blood work. Let’s pray for a good report. Margie Grant home from Southside Hospital with blood problems. Diane Davison recovering from surgery Thursday night at Good Sam.

If you would like to help with the Sunday Morning Bagel ministry see John or Terri Garry.


Notes on Our Time in the Word of God This Morning:
Brokenhearted Over Sinfulness

Psalm 119.136

Thanks to each of you for the beautiful card and generous gift for my birthday last week. I feel like the most blessed man on the planet and at the same time most unworthy of it. You bring my heart great joy. God bless each of you
In Jesus Our LORD,
Pastor Larry

Pastor’s messages are now available online:
http://thesundaymorningmessage.blogspot.com/
Church e-mail: bayshorenaz@rock.com
Church Phone: 631-969-1730
1314 Pine Acres Boulevard, Bay Shore, Long Island, NY 11706-5436

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all for the glory of God